


Devotion

by bloodsugar



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Complicated Relationships, Denial, Denial of Feelings, End of the World, Enemies, M/M, Minor Character Death, Post-Canon Fix-It, Romantic Gestures, Star-crossed, Unexpected Visitors, Walk Away Ending (Far Cry)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodsugar/pseuds/bloodsugar
Summary: There was going to be a day, Rook knew, when people would ask him why he did it.Why did he let Joseph Seed go.Why did he allow for the pain and suffering of innocents to continue? Why did he turn a blind eye to it and choose to walk away after everything he’d done to set things right?
Relationships: Deputy | Judge/Joseph Seed, Male Deputy | Judge/Joseph Seed
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	1. Delivered

  
  
  


_Forgive… and you will be forgiven._

_What? What are you doing? Rook?_

_We’re not going to leave those people… We’re going to get the National Guard…_

_What’s wrong?_

  
  


_~_

  
  


There was going to be a day, Rook knew, when people would ask him why he did it. 

Why did he let Joseph Seed go. 

Why did he allow for the pain and suffering of innocents to continue? Why did he turn a blind eye to it and choose to walk away after everything he’d done to set things right? 

  
  


~

  
  


The world is black and heavy around him, like it always is after Only You takes hold. Even in death Jacob Seed retains control of Rook’s subconscious. 

Rook can’t bring himself fully out of it, his senses jumbled. There are voices, words are being said in a confusing stream, and only parts of it are making sense. 

“Rook. Rook!” 

“Snap.. it..Rook!” 

“Come on.. -ay with .. Rook.” 

“Stay with me, kid.. Fix... going to fix...you.”

“I don’t think we should be doing this, sir. He needs a hospital, medical attention, not-” 

Is he being dragged somewhere? That’s what it feels like. Rook tries to open his eyes, but fails. Only You.. damn it. 

“A doctor can not fix what has been unnaturally done, Hudson.” 

“But sir, we are walking into a lion’s den.”

“You saw what he did, Hudson. We’re doing this. Rook needs this.” 

Rook can hear most of it now, and yet none of it makes sense. He shifts, groans in discomfort.

Someone squeezes his shoulder.

“We’re here, Rook. I am not going to turn you in.” 

Turn him in? Why would they turn him in?

Rook wants to give talking a try but is interrupted. 

“You’re back.” 

That voice. He can recognize it in a dream, or in the dark or halfway to madness with his senses scrambled. 

“There is something wrong with him. You need to fix it.” 

“This way.” 

“You fix it, Seed, or I swear to God, I will bring this chapel down on your crazy head.”

“There will be no need for that. Here.” 

Rook is set down on something hard and unforgiving. At least it’s not rocks. 

“What happened?” 

“He went nuts!” 

“Hudson, be quiet. He attacked us. Crashed the car. Tried to kill me, failed. Tried to kill my deputy, failed. Tried to kill my other deputy, succeeded.” 

Rook’s chest clenches as he shifts in his place. He killed Staci Pratt? He wants to scream but all that leaves his mouth is a moan of anguish. 

“Rest. There will be time for redemption yet.” 

He wants to protest but he’s never been great at protesting against Joseph’s gentle orders. 

The world, still black, fades away. 

~

  
  


He comes to in a bed, in an unfamiliar room. As he sits up the world spins briefly, but then everything is clear. Clearer than Rook would like it to be. 

He’d killed Pratt. After everything Rook had done to save everyone from the Seeds’ sadistic, insane hold, he had killed his fellow deputy. That is what the Sheriff had said. 

_“Tried to kill my other deputy, succeeded.”_

Rook shoves the blanket he’s been carefully covered with away, intent on leaving this place in search of answers, only to realize he is half naked underneath. His shirt has been discarded, and he can not see it anywhere. His jeans are slung over a nearby chair and he can see splatter of blood on them which quickly makes him nauseated. 

How much of that is Pratt’s blood? Fucking Jacob Seed had really managed to turn Rook into a mindless killing machine. He’d been so confident he would achieve it too. Rook had really hoped to prove him wrong.

Rook sees a dresser in the corner of the room and makes his way to it, rummaging through for clothes and huffing when all he can find is peggy gear. Great, he is now not only acting like one of those misguided fanatics but he’s also going to look like them.

He’s halfway into a pair of jeans when the door swings open. Rook freezes, one leg lifted to shimmy into a pant leg.

Joseph Seed takes him in, standing silent in the doorway and shirtless as always. He looks calm, peaceful even. His hands are occupied with what Rook assumes is his clean shirt. 

Do they even have washing machines anymore in Hope County or did Joseph have a wayward peggy beat it against a rock in the Henbane? 

As Joseph’s gaze travels south over his body, Rook is snapped out of that train of thought. He breaks his flamingo stance to step into the jeans fully and pulls them up, barely managing not to catch his boxers in the zipper in the rush to cover himself. When he meets Joseph’s eyes again there is a hint of a smirk on the man’s lips that Rook chooses not to address, or even think about. 

Rook wants to reach out for his shirt but stops himself, the extended moment becoming heavy. He feels awkward, has a ton of questions, and yet somehow can not bring himself to utter a single word. 

In the end it is Joseph who ends his suffering. 

“Clean clothes,” Joseph explains as he steps into the room to place Rook’s shirt on the bed. It appears to be fully dry, has been folded, and if Rook is not mistaken, even smells nice. Rook eyes it with suspicion, having always assumed peggies only showered and washed their clothes on a full moon. 

Still, his mother didn’t raise him in a barn so as he grabs it and puts it on Rook gives Joseph a little nod. 

“Thank you.” It’s dry, like his throat, and if anyone had ever told Rook the first words he would say to Joseph Seed after seeing him again would be ones of gratitude, Rook would have laughed in their face. 

The irony is a little much for Rook and they’re standing too close anyway so he steps away, peeking through the window of the room. He appears to be in Joseph’s compound, on the first ground of one of the houses. Back in the compound where it all started, and where it was all supposed to end. In the compound where it did start but didn’t end. 

Rook feels uncomfortable faced with the realization that his choices have brought him right back to square one. 

Where is he supposed to go from here? Does he arrest Joseph? Is he still an acting deputy now that he is also a murderer? The lives he took did not start with Pratt’s but it still carries a finality that Rook can not ignore. It feels like he has stepped over a line and reached a point of no return. Has he lost a part of himself along the way, Rook wonders, because it certainly doesn’t feel that way. Everything has changed and yet the fire inside him still burns. He wants to make everything right. He _wants_ to arrest Joseph Seed. 

The definition of insanity, a little voice reminds him, and just like that Rook is angry. 

“What is it about you?” It just spills out, unbidden, as Rook turns to face Joseph again. 

One moment Rook doesn’t want to speak at all, then the next he is monologuing an angry tirade at Joseph from halfway across the room like the space between them is somehow insurmountable. He could go up to Joseph and choke the life out of him but instead it’s all just words, pouring out of Rook like a river. 

“What makes everything and everyone so weak around you that their actions amount to nothing? All that pain, suffering, the death, the destruction - what is it leading to? Why, _how_ are you unstoppable?” 

It is probably more than Rook has said in his entire time spent in Hope County. 

Rook isn’t much of a talker in general, and the madness of the project of Eden’s Gate only served to make that worse, pushing him to his most basic and typical responses - to just take action and do what needed to be done. 

But now he needs answers. He needs to know what makes Joseph Seed so damn special. What drove the peggies to be so devoted, what managed to convince Joseph’s siblings to be his ‘heralds’ and what on Earth caused Rook to go through Hell and back to stop Joseph only to then agree to ‘leave him his flock’ and go. 

For all the good that did him, as Rook is right back here, faced with Joseph yet _again_. 

“Why is there no end to this?” Rook asks, and this question is not even for Joseph. If Rook believed in God, the question would probably be for them. 

To his credit, Joseph appears to be as calm and patient as Rook has known him to always be. It is infuriating, in this moment, and actually in general too. He has thankfully made no effort to approach Rook, instead rooted in his spot a few feet away from him. 

Joseph’s voice is soft when he speaks up, washing over Rook in a calm wave that Rook immediately resents. “The end is inevitable, but the road to it depends entirely on our choices, Rook,” he explains as though it is supposed to mean something. Rook has tried everything - he tried arresting Joseph, he tried letting him go. Neither of those choices led to anything definitive. 

Rook gestures helplessly at the room, at them, at their situation, knowing that Joseph will get it. He does. Joseph always seems to have this innate understanding of Rook’s thoughts and feelings and it’s as ridiculous as it is unbelievable as it is annoying. 

“I know what you seek, Rook,” Joseph’s tone has taken on a note of sympathy, his gaze warm on Rook’s. He seems almost...loving, the way he’s speaking to Rook like a wounded animal he is about to heal. “You wish for all your efforts to bear results.” 

Joseph motions for Rook to follow him, then steps outside. He’s does it slow enough for Rook to still hear him, but with enough quiet power not to give Rook the option not to follow him. It is so typically _Joseph Seed_ as Rook has briefly known him that it’s enough to set his blood ablaze again with silent fury. 

“You assume that your actions must have one specific purpose and you are disappointed to find they have another instead,” Joseph is still talking, and only some of it is making sense.

As Rook goes after him into the sunlight he briefly considers wrapping his hands around Joseph’s neck and choking him anyway. If it does not lead to the ‘result Rook seeks’, it will at least be very unpleasant for the Seed. 

  
  


~

They have rather awkward lunch in another part of the compound, where some barrels have been placed to serve as chairs around a table under a large tree. 

The sun is too bright, somehow making its way through the shade of the leafs and blinding Rook if he leans too far in any direction. Still high on whatever Bliss concoction Joseph had dosed them with, Jess and Grace walk around nearby. Rook is somehow calmed by the fact that even in their zombie-like state, they still gravitate towards him like they’re ready to point their weapons at Joseph and threaten him with immediate but painful death. 

The man in question is sitting on the barrel right next to Rook, having left the rest of the seats around the table empty. To any outsider unfamiliar with their predicament, they probably look like two old friends sharing a meal, having just escaped the unforgiving Montana sun.

Joseph is leaning slightly in Rook’s direction, all trust and soft movements as he alternates between taking a bite and having a drink of water. His bare forearm brushes Rook’s every now and then when he reaches for something on the table. He doesn’t speak much, instead lets the silence envelop them, save for the occasional gentle urge of “Eat, Rook, please, you need your strength.” 

It is all so natural, subtle, borderline intimate. 

It’s ridiculous.

Rook chews on his turkey and lettuce sandwich aggressively to compensate for the idyllic picture they must make. 

Where did Joseph even get lettuce on this little island? Does he grow it himself, moonlighting as a gardener along with being a crazy cult leader?

  
  


~

  
  


Later in the day, Joseph holds a sermon for a bunch of peggies who initially want to kill Rook on the spot, only to be discouraged gently by Joseph himself. 

“The Deputy is here as our guest, brothers and sisters. He will see our ways and understand our convictions.” 

Yeah, don’t hold your breath, Rook thinks from his spot on one of the benches, a sneer plastered on his face. He spends the vast majority of the sermon trying to come up with a plan to save his companions from the influence of the Bliss and hightail it out of there. 

Unfortunately even after the peggies have cleared out, all of them throwing dirty looks his way and calling him a murderer, Rook has jack squat. It must be well over 24 hours since everyone was dosed with the Bliss and they still appear to be under its influence. Rook has never seen anything like it, then again he has only ever avoided the Bliss or had to receive a shot of adrenaline to return him to normal. 

_You can’t come out of the Bliss clean_ , he remembers and hopes it’s not true. Either way he’s not taking any chances. 

He’ll have to get his hands on some adrenaline. 

  
  


~ 

  
  


Rook approaches Joseph in the evening, aware that without his vest or his guns he won’t make it a foot out of the compound without a peggy bullet in his body. 

“I need to go,” he says simply, opting for transparency. 

Joseph, who is arranging what looks to be copies of The Book of Joseph on the pews in the chapel, doesn’t even look up from what he is doing. There is a tenseness in his bare shoulders though which Rook can see clearly from a few feet away. “You are free to go.” 

The words surprise Rook momentarily, mainly because he had expected to be kept here against his will but also because they are in contrast to everything that has happened during this absurd day of normalcy between them. Rook shifts on his feet, suddenly uncertain, scowling. 

“I had hoped you would learn from your mistakes and take this opportunity to get to know us however.” The way Joseph says this, his gaze still trained on those stupid books, makes Rook want to grab him and shake him. 

Get to know the peggies! 

“What, you want us to have lunch together and sing cult songs like everything is normal?” Rook can’t help himself. He just snarls the words out and feels a sense of satisfaction when Joseph straightens up to look at him. 

Finally, Rook thinks as his brown eyes meet Joseph’s blue. In another world, Rook would probably look Joseph up and down at this point. Hell, in another world maybe they’d be hate-fucking by now. In this world, Rook just wants to punch Joseph in the face for saying stupid shit. 

Rook will never know the peggies or understand their convictions. They’re all mad, and Joseph is the worst of them all. 

“You can leave now and try to stop us again,” Joseph says calmly. He looks so unbothered by Rook’s display of annoyance. “But you have tried that and bore no fruit. I am simply proposing an alternate cause of action which may lead to a different outcome.” 

His upper lip curling, Rook rolls his eyes. He hates it when Joseph speaks in such vague terms. Joseph is supposed to be The all knowing Father, he’s supposed to have the answers and the details. 

“So what would the outcome be then?” Rook asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest, expectant. He does not normally go full asshole but something about Joseph’s calm demeanor brings it out of him. 

What he doesn’t expect is for Joseph to step closer to him, his head tilted to the side like he’s trying to determine if Rook can handle whatever he is about to dish out. Rook is certain he can. 

“You will listen when I speak and reject everything at first, then you will see it is truth. In the end, you will be the one to reach for my hand and lead us through Eden’s Gate.” 

Him? Rook? 

“I thought you were the one chosen to lead the crazies into nirvana.” Rook gives Joseph a look over his nose, but he feels his insides clench uncomfortably. He hasn’t stopped Joseph yet and everything is starting to seem bleak and unavoidable. Rook dreads the moment Joseph will start making sense. 

Unfortunately what Joseph says then has few ways for interpretation. He doesn’t reach for Rook, nor does he move closer but the air is sucked from between them anyway with his next words. 

“You are my other half, Rook. Made for me and delivered to me in the most opportune moment. We will walk the path together.” 

Rook stares in disbelief as Joseph’s gaze drops down. He would seem almost shy and insecure had his words not been so bold. 

Heart thundering in his chest, Rook spins on his heel and walks out of the chapel, leaving Joseph behind. 

Joseph doesn’t follow him.


	2. Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Remember the first time we met, Rook.”_

Rook’s mind is a proper mess as he walks out of the compound and toward Dutch’s island. 

He isn’t stopped by any peggy on the way, finding the truth in Joseph’s words - guess he really was free to go. 

Joseph’s words… Rook finds himself shaking his head in vain efforts to try and dispel the echo of them in his head. 

What the fuck.  _ What the fuck  _ was Joseph thinking saying shit like that? 

His other half. Together! What a load of bullshit. Perfect for him?? _Rook_ , the former soldier and sheriff’s deputy, perfect for _Joseph Seed_ , cult leader extraordinaire? 

Rook has half a mind to go back and just kill Joseph where he stands if it would put an end to this ridiculous reality Rook has found himself in. Never in a million years would Rook have thought that one day he would be referred to as God’s  _ creation _ , special made for a man responsible for the torture of hundreds and the death of dozens of people. Rook thinks that even Hitler’s wife must have felt less awkward than he does right now. 

He really wishes there were other ways to interpret what Joseph said but Rook is not a fan of denial. Joseph had said the words, he’d meant them. Rook had recognized their meaning and taken his leave to cool off. 

What is expected of him now exactly? Is he supposed to make peace with his intended position at Joseph’s side? Are they supposed to hold hands and smile at each other while people continue to be run out of their homes and into the Bliss? Are they supposed to kiss when the world comes to an end? 

Rook remembers all the times he’d come across Joseph in the Seeds’ regions. All the soft words of conviction Joseph had said to him; all the passionate monologues; all the intense looks Joseph had given him; and all the forehead touches. Has Rook been blind this whole time? 

_ “If it were up to me, you’d be dead by now, but Joseph has other plans for you.” _

_ “This one shall reach the Atonement.”  _

_ “I can save you.” _

Today may have been the first time Joseph said the actual words, but they’d always been there behind his actions, behind his preaching, behind his treatment of Rook. 

_ “You are not here by accident or by chance.”  _

_ “You’ve been given a gift. Now it remains to be seen whether you choose to embrace it … or to cast it aside.”  _

Rook shudders at the memories. For fuck’s sake, is  _ Joseph 'the gift' _ ? 

“Fuck!” Rook kicks a rock out of his way and stomps toward Dutch’s bunker faster. 

He needs his guns, his dog - any resemblance of actual normalcy, if he hopes to think clearly anytime soon.

Rook is not embracing  _ anything _ . He won't be going back to Joseph’s compound. 

  
  


~

  
  


“I was worried about you, kid.” 

Dutch watches from across the room as Rook rummages through drawers and safes, taking whatever equipment he can find that might be useful. 

He slams a cupboard shut and turns to the older man. “I need a radio. Do you have one here?” 

Dutch is looking at him with his eyebrows raised, quiet for a moment before he speaks up again. 

“And I gotta say my worries are not being elevated right now.” He steps closer to Rook. “Are you feeling alright, kid?” 

Rook shakes his head, scanning the room for anything else he can take. He’s not sure where he’s going and how he’s going to stop Joseph Seed without his companions. He’d have to save them first. 

“I’m not OK. I killed my fellow deputy in one of those trances Jacob put us in with Only You.”

Dutch is scowling now and Rook joins him as he continues. “I can not trust my own mind, my friends are Blissed out of their minds in Joseph Seed’s compound. My dog, my cougar and my bear are who knows where, maybe not even alive. And to top all of that, I’m told I…” Rook doesn’t finish that sentence. He’s not sure he can say it out loud. He doesn’t even want to think it. 

“I have to save my friends. I need to gather whoever is left, to find adrenaline shots and administer them to the ones at Joseph’s compound to snap them out of it.” 

Rook faces Dutch fully, giving him a look. “Where is your radio? Do you have a spare?” 

Having clearly given up on conversation, Dutch brings a radio from another room in the bunker. Rook squeezes is in his hand, temporary relief washing over him. 

“I will be back eventually,” he promises Dutch on his way out of the bunker, climbing up into the evening light. 

He can go to any region now that they’re all clear from the Seed influence in search of that adrenaline. Getting it will be the easy part with all the Resistance allies everywhere. Administering it in the heart of Joseph’s compound however - that is the part Rook needs to figure out. He will probably have to draw his friends out one by one somehow. 

How he’ll do that from under Joseph’s nose and the peggies practically living at the compound will take some planning.

Rook hijacks a peggy truck from the side of the road and just drives. 

  
  


~

  
  


Cheeseburger finds him as he’s rummaging through an empty trailer near the border of the Whitetail Mountains. Rook hears growling at first and prepares his shotgun, but then he’s assaulted with bear kisses and it’s not so bad. 

“Good to have you back, buddy.” He pats Cheeseburger’s cheek affectionately, unable to help the sense of hope he gets from being reunited with the bear.

By now Rook has a bow, one of his handguns with a silencer and a scope, the shotgun he lifted off of a dead cultist and a couple of rocks to distract the occasional peggy he runs into. It’s not his preferred set of weapons but it will do until Rook finds a weapons vendor in one of the outposts he reclaimed for the Resistance. 

He also wants to go to Fall’s End where he suspects Boomer still is, but one thing at a time. 

Rook makes his way to the Lumber Mill next where manages to obtain a couple of adrenaline shots from one of the trailers and a pretty sick sniper rifle. He briefly entertains the fantasy of shooting Joseph long range with it before he takes a hundred bullets for it and bids the Resistance member farewell for now. 

He tries reaching the Sheriff and Hudson via the radio but his call is left unanswered. Rook hopes they went to get the National Guard after all. He doesn’t blame them for leaving him in Joseph’s hands, especially not after he apparently tried to kill them. 

While driving through Faith’s region on the way to the Hope County jail, Rook “saves” a cultist from being killed. He ties the man up and shoves him in the back of the truck. 

“Tell me what Joseph’s plan is with his siblings gone.” Rook gets straight to the point, yelling the question back only to be met with an angry stare. “Speak up,” he orders, jaw clenching. If any peggy is more aware of the project’s endgame it is such a sicko as this one. 

“I’m not telling you shit, you killed Faith!" The peggy finally speaks after an uncomfortable five minutes of Rook blaring Build a Castle through the radio to annoy him. It works surprisingly well to annoy but not enough to get Rook the information he needs. 

He shrugs, smirking. “Fine then. ” 

He feigns innocence as he stops the truck, Cheeseburger catching up to them shortly. “How about I feed you to my bear?” Rook asks, delighted by the panic in the peggy’s eyes. Even Boomer eats more human flesh than Cheeseburger but the peggy doesn’t need to know that. 

Rook taps the man’s boot thoughtfully. “I think I will start with your foot.”

He’s barely started pulling the item off when the peggy scrambles awkwardly away, bound as he is, and shakes his head vehemently. “Joseph doesn’t have a plan! I swear it! He trusts in the plan the Lord has for him and-”

The peggy looks at Rook then, eyes wide, shutting his mouth. 

“And?” Rook prompts, leaning in closer and waving his gun at him a little.

The man’s eyes trail from the gun to Cheeseburger who has the most convenient timing and yawns. “And his Chosen! He trusts God’s plan for him and his Chosen!” the peggy gasps, scrambling away again. 

Rook watches him, the heavy feeling setting inside his chest making him doubt that the “Chosen” the cultist is referring to is one of the pilots the Seeds used to send after him. 

He doesn’t ask who the Chosen is, finding comfort in the thought that maybe even the peggy doesn’t really know. He leaves the man still tied up, propped up against a tree. 

Cheeseburger doesn’t eat him, but instead follows Rook as he drives away. 

  
  


~

  
  


There are peggies outside of the jail when Rook gets there, trying to reclaim it. Without the Sheriff and Tracy there, they seem about capable of achieving their goal until Cheeseburger starts going through them like they’re chew toys. Rook finishes off whoever is left still fighting and chases away the ones who have a sense to beg for their lives. 

The remainder of the Resistance greets him warmly, offering him his pick of all weapons available and all the adrenaline they have left. They seem keen on joining him to get Tracy back so Rook tells them to keep their radios on hand, he’ll contact them when he’s ready to make the move. 

He takes a count of the adrenaline shots - nine. There were eight people back at the compound. This leaves Rook very little room for error, not that he intends to make any. He decides he needs more adrenaline just in case, and that he needs his friends. 

Pastor Jerome, Mary May, Tracy, Grace, Jess, Tammy, Wheaty and Nick. Those were the ones Joseph’s followers had kidnapped and Blissed. 

This means Rook can still get Sharky, Adelaide or even Hurk on the rescue mission. He won over most of the county, this shouldn’t be that difficult. What more could Joseph have up his sleeve? 

Rook heads to Fall’s End next, trying to reach his companions on the radio the whole way through. 

  
  


~

  
  


Luckily enough, during Rook’s day long disappearance most of his friends had the same idea because Rook finds Adelaide, Sharky and Boomer at the Spread Eagle. 

“We were just about to come look for you, baby!” Adelaide greets Rook with open arms and for the first time he allows himself to sink into the hug, slumping. He suddenly feels a weight on his shoulders that wasn’t there before and collapses on a nearby barstool. 

The Spread Eagle looks empty and wrong without Mary May in it. He voices the thought, cursing his lack of opportunity to have this giant mess fixed already. 

“Not your fault, man, and you know it. That Seed is a crafty one. But we’ll get him.” Sharky’s neverending confidence is a breath of fresh air, if a little naive. Rook hasn’t managed to best Joseph Seed yet. He feels so far from it right now it is laughable. 

Rook looks around again, grateful for the beer the bartender places in his hand. Boomer noses at his knee as Rook takes a swig. 

“Hurk?” Rook asks, actually hoping Hurk can rejoin the fight. 

“On his way, baby.” Adelaide smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Rook wonders how long it’s been since she saw Hurk and his father, aside from their trips around the county to stop the peggies. “Now tell us what happened.” 

Not normally one to talk much, Rook still feels compelled to do it. So he tells them everything, drawing in a bit of a crowd of Resistance members and Fall’s End residents by the end of it. 

“You’re joking.” Sharky gapes at him, eyes wider than Rook’s ever seen them. “Joseph Seed just let ya go? After everything you’ve done??” 

Rook, having left out the part about being Joseph’s better half or whatever, nods. “The real question is why I agreed to let  _ him  _ go in the first place, Sharky.” 

“Well, why did ya?” Sharky and Adelaide ask at the same time. 

Rook shrugs. 

“I figured if I tried something different, if I stopped the fighting for a moment, then something might happen. We might get to .. the end.” 

“The end?” Sharky’s eyebrows are drawn together in confusion. 

Rook palms his face, sighing. “Yeah, I don’t know either.” He’s about to think out loud some more when his radio pipes up. 

“Why do you fight this?” 

Everyone around him stiffens as Rook’s heart drops straight to the ground. Fuck.

He is on his feet and out of the Spread Eagle before anyone could even try to stop him. 

Before he answers Joseph’s question, Rook is in Pastor Jerome’s church, alone. He tries not to find the irony in choosing this place to respond to Joseph, and finds a seat instead. 

Why does he fight. The question was clearly intended for him as Rook does not believe Joseph would reach out like this to anyone else. It makes him uncomfortable and bothered and wanted. That makes him want to crawl out of his skin. 

“It’s obvious why I fight. People are brainwashed, others dead because of you.” It’s what Rook settles for because everything else running through his mind is either too dramatic or plain insulting. 

“I told you God would not let you take me.” Joseph takes only a moment to respond, as though Rook’s answer bears no importance in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it doesn’t. 

“Remember the first time we met, Rook.” It’s an order more so than it is a request. “Think back on how it felt when I first laid eyes on you.” 

Rook thinks he’s about to be sick. 

He remembers alright. He remembers how everything around them had almost ceased to exist the moment Joseph’s eyes met his. It had been overwhelming. Something Rook had attributed to his nerves at the time, and his inexperience. 

Joseph, of course, has another theory. 

“Your soul knows me, Rook. As mine knows you.” 

There is a pause then during which the radio cracks in Rook’s grip. No. He refuses to accept any of it. It’s Joseph’s madness, the same madness that caused the chaos around them. 

“God will not let you take my life, Rook. He will not let you stop me. He wants you to be by my side. You are my Chosen and I yours.” 

Teeth clenching down on a yell, Rook throws the radio at the nearby wall and watches it shatter. 

Seeing the pieces fall to the ground gives him no satisfaction. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Attention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Joseph sure has his attention now._

Joseph continues to talk at Rook on the new radio too. It’s an open frequency and Rook is exasperated to receive a growing number of concerned looks from the Resistance members he encounters. The judgmental looks are not few in number either, and Rook feels somehow personally responsible for those. 

He never should have responded to Joseph in the first place. He should have taken Joseph’s ridiculous notions of them being meant for each other to the grave. Instead, when he left the Church the other day, everyone with access to a radio had heard Joseph’s delusions. Some started avoiding Rook, others like Adelaide seemed almost delighted by the turn of events. 

Currently in another brainstorming session with her, Sharky and Hurk, Rook can’t help but cringe at the looks Adelaide keeps giving him. It’s barely controlled glee. Rook is sick of it. He places his pen on the table and gives her a look. 

“OK, what?” he asks, deadpan. 

Adelaide’s smile is all teeth. Rook never noticed before how much she looks like a shark? 

“All I’m saying, honey, is that this is an opportunity.” She leans closer to Rook over the table, as if to tell him a secret. “Joseph wants ya? The best way to catch him off guard and with his pants around his ankles is… well.” She straight up cackles then, much to Rook's horror. “Why to get him with his pants around his ankles of course.”

Rook grimaces, just about ready to slam his head against the table until he’s unconscious. Then it gets worse.

“Uhh, you’re not uh, saying what I think you’re saying?” Hurk looks between the two of them, then looks to Sharky for help. 

Sharky shrugs a little. “Don’t look at me, Hurky, I happen to agree with Adi.” 

Rook’s eyebrows shoot almost up to his hair. “Excuse me?” 

“Look, man, I said it about John and was pretty confident about it at the time. But now I can actually say it with like, complete certainty.” 

Rook goes to lift a hand to stop him but it’s too late. 

“The Seed wants ya, he said so himself. Sounded into it, too. Way I see it? You go and give him what he wants and our necks will be saved.” 

Hurk looks between the three of them as Rook actually brings his face to the table, bumping it with his forehead before looking back up. 

“Sharky, what exactly is it that you think he wants?” Rook lifts a hand then. “It’s a rhetorical question, do not answer it. Joseph Seed doesn’t just … It’s not about a romp in the sack and behold, all of our wishes come true and he stops this mayhem.” 

“Wait,” Hurk interrupts, looking even more confused. “So he doesn’t want your dick?” 

Rook cringes at the choice of words and is mortified to feel the aforementioned dick twitch in his pants. No. He’s not going there. Another life, remember? Not this one. 

“I don’t know, OK. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. What he wants is for me to be on his side. Hell, he probably wants me to bring you guys in.” Rook rambles, the mere idea of losing more of his companions making him uncomfortable. 

Adelaide however doesn’t seem to feel the same way. “So bring us in, honey. Pretend you’ve seen the light, bring us in as proof or a sacrifice or whatever, and then when you’re having victory sex with Joseph, bam! Cuff him and bring him to the authorities.” 

“There will be no victory sex.” Rook gives her a look, judging her for even thinking it. 

“Oh come on, he’s a handsome man, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed it. Or do you not fancy men?” she responds, now looking concerned. 

  
Sharky and Hurk join in with a chorus of “Oh, he likes men, I’ve seen him look!” and then high five each other. 

  
Rook lets out a sound of exasperation and stands up. 

“Enough. Call me back in when you have a real plan of action. Not one that involves you sacrificing yourselves to the Bliss or sacrificing me to Joseph Seed’s bed.”

  
  


Rook’s halfway into the Spread Eagle when his radio makes a sound and sure enough there is Joseph’s voice again. Rook walks right back out before the whispers can start, even if they’re unavoidable. 

“Rook. Every minute spent apart is wasted.” 

Not wanting to give Joseph any false hopes, Rook elects not to address that ridiculous statement. Like spending more time together would make Rook more agreeable. Not even in Adelaide’s wildest gay sex fantasies. 

He goes to an empty field and sits on a patch of grass. Unfortunately Joseph is not finished for the day. 

“I know you are afraid, worried. You have not seen your true purpose yet. I can help you see it.” 

Rook rolls his eyes, as he imagines the rest of the people listening in are doing also. If it were that easy he’d be a peggy already. Instead here he is, plotting against Joseph. 

“You belong by my side.” 

OK, that’s it. Joseph is not easily deterred and Rook doesn’t want the rumours to get any worse so he presses the radio button down. “If you’re going to bore the entirety of Hope County with your mindless drivel, at least be mindful of my reputation. I don’t want to join you, I won’t be at your side.” 

“Your current reputation is meaningless.” Joseph wastes no time in responding. “When you find your way back to me, the reputation we build together will be important, vital to our cause.” 

“We don’t have a cause.” Rook corrects immediately, then switches off his radio. 

On his way back to Fall’s End a Resistance member asks him if Joseph Seed is good in bed. Rook almost hisses at him like Peaches would, then makes his way straight to his room for a half an hour nap. 

  
This is getting exhausting. 

  
  


~

  
  


After another day of sporadic requests from Joseph for Rook to return to the compound when he is ready, Rook decides he has had enough. 

Their plan is not near ready but who knows what state the rest of his friends are in currently, left alone with Joseph and his lunatics. He needs to do something soon. 

Maybe he  _ can  _ distract Joseph, just not in the way Adelaide and Sharky have suggested. His treacherous mind briefly supplies that Rook would distract Joseph that way too, but he quickly shuts that down. 

Nothing about what Joseph has said so far has implied a physical relationship. It is all spiritual mumbo jumbo. Rook can simply find out how far this perfect fit of their extends according to Joseph’s delusions. 

It’s the middle of the night when Rook gets in a truck and drives to Joseph’s compound, two burner phones keeping him company in the passenger seat. It’s a half assed attempt at manipulation but it just might work. 

The compound is almost empty as he arrives, a peggy here and there giving him suspicious looks as he walks through. True to Joseph’s word, none of them touch him. He is free to come and go. It's surreal. 

Wherever his friends may be hidden, Rook can see no sign of them. He will be coming back for them soon enough.

Joseph greets him at the entrance of the chapel, looking tired but somewhat hopeful. 

“Rook, you’re back,” he says, his voice all welcome and affection. He spreads his arms for Rook to come to him, as he has done not once before, but Rook shakes his head. 

“I’m not staying,” he says, wasting no time in pressing one of the burner phones in Joseph’s hand instead. 

Joseph eyes him, then the phone, and raises an eyebrow. 

“My number is saved in. Just call me next time, instead of talking to thousands of people in the entire county,” Rook urges. “ I am already the laughing stock of the Resistance,” he adds bitterly. 

Unsurprisingly, Joseph pays that bitterness no mind. Rook sees him curl his long fingers around the phone and is momentarily blinded by the fantasy of the same fingers curling around his dick instead. 

  
Reprimanding himself internally, Rook turns his back to Joseph and starts toward his car again. 

“No more radio calls, please, you have embarrassed us enough,” he throws over his shoulder. 

The ‘us’ is thrown in on purpose and Rook briefly wonders if Joseph will pick up on it. 

When he starts his car and casts one last look at the chapel Joseph is still in the doorway, watching him. 

After returning to his room at the Spread Eagle, Rook dreams about Joseph, waking up a few times through the rest of the night. He tosses and turns, then curses his luck. 

Of course he’d go throw Joseph a bone to try and beat him at his own game and would instead return with a head full of fantasies his mind would twist into wet dreams. 

Rook blames Adelaide, really. 

  
  


~

Joseph calls him at noon the very next day. 

He mainly talks at Rook again because even though Rook answers the phone, he phases Joseph out half of the time, simply not listening. At times, of course, when Joseph says something particularly inviting, Rook can not help to respond. 

There is banter, and even some insults from Rook’s side, but Joseph is patient as ever. He barely criticizes Rook, instead choosing to preach with his usual conviction. He seems so certain Rook will eventually understand why they’re meant to lead the peggies together. 

When they hang up, Rook jerks off to the sound of Joseph’s voice for the first time. He’d never really noticed Joseph’s voice before but he was preoccupied with bringing the other Seeds down. 

After he’s finished, Rook wonders why he is not preoccupied with bringing Joseph down now. 

  
  


~

  
  


He meets his friends in Pastor Jerome’s church to discuss their plan again. 

Adelaide has had Xander bring Peaches over from the marina and Rook spends the first ten minutes petting her. She will be invaluable for when they go to the compound. 

“So how far along are you all with your rescue plan?” Xander asks, having decided to join them. Rook is not one to turn down a helping hand, especially since the guy played no small role in bringing Faith down.

“We have the supplies, we know what to do, we just don’t know how to drag eight people out of a compound full of peggies.” Sharky gives the summary, his expression thoughtful. He then turns to Rook. “Hey, did ya consider our suggestion to uh, fuck Joseph Seed?” 

While Xander chokes on his own spit and Adelaide goes to his rescue, Rook glares at Sharky. 

“I did not and will not,” he responds, shaking his head. 

With any luck his phone calls will lead Joseph to invite him back to the compound to take his friends away and that will be that. Then Rook will be able to prepare them for a ‘final attack’ or something which will hopefully result in Joseph’s arrest. No fucking necessary. 

This reminds Rook to try and contact the Sheriff and Hudson again, who seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth since their last meeting. 

He leaves Adelaide and the rest in the church to go instruct a Resistance member to go to the Hope County jail and contact him if and as soon as the Sheriff goes back there. 

As the woman is driving away, Rook’s phone rings again. 

“Yes?” Rook feigns calm, but hearing from Joseph so soon after jerking off to him feels wrong. 

“Rook. I have decided to show you my devotion.” 

Rook is immediately confused, a little pang in his chest making him shift uncomfortably where he stands. “Sorry?” 

“You are what is important to me now. You will feel it soon enough.” 

And just like that, Joseph’s soft voice is taken away as he hangs up. Rook stares at the phone in his hand, for the first time since the first arrest attempt contemplating to reach out to Joseph first. 

He doesn’t call in the end. If Joseph wants to be cryptic, Rook will let him. 

  
  


~

  
  


They end up being stuck between plan A and plan B. 

Plan A consists of storming the compound with all that they’ve got, which is actually plenty. Having already secured the regions, Rook has the Resistance on his side, which has grown exponentially. Joseph has a few dozen peggies in contrast. Unfortunately this plan is risky because he also has Rook’s friends under the influence of the Bliss. If Rook does not get to them in time, they might hurt someone or he might have to hurt them. 

It’s not ideal. 

Plan B is for his companions who are better at sneaking to draw out his other friends one by one out of the compound during the night, leaving the peggies none the wiser. This means a limited time window, as the moment a note is made of one of Rook’s friends missing, the peggies are expected to both tighten up security and to send a search party. Whilst this is going on, another party will be sent to get no one other than Joseph Seed himself and to use him as leverage, if needed. 

This one is not ideal either, as Rook has been named bait, and the one to ‘distract’ Joseph while Hurk grabs and sedates him. 

Rook doesn’t see either of the options working out without a hitch. His personal plan C is for them all to just go to the National Guard themselves, but Rook being an inexperienced deputy and the rest of the Resistance being full of vigilantes, he somehow does not imagine that plan would end up being successful either. 

It is the following morning when everyone is discussing strategy, teams and drawing up both plans to discuss against each other. They’ve put a few tables together in the Spread Eagle, and for once no one is thinking about a drink. 

Rook is hunched over the table, arguing with Adelaide over how many people are or are not needed to come along if they go with plan A. They are interrupted into silence when the door swings open to reveal… Pastor Jerome and Mary May, neither of them appearing to be under the influence of the Bliss. 

“What the hell?” Sharky says at Rook’s side, gaping at them in awe as they step inside. 

“Do not speak of Hell, Sharky, when it is already here,” Pastor Jerome corrects him. Quickly he’s swarmed with Resistance fighters. He and Mary May are surrounded for long minutes until the place clears out a little and Rook has a chance to get to them. 

He’s not sure how to start, his heart pounding a little too fast in his chest. “How?”

Mary May gives him one of her all-knowing looks as Pastor Jerome responds. 

“He let us go, son.” 

Rook bites down on his lip, momentarily rejecting the mere possibility that it is that simple. “Why?” So he’s stuck with one word sentences, OK. 

“We do not know why,” the Pastor shrugs, making his way deeper into the Eagle. “We were allowed to recover from the Bliss and then sent on our way. We came here, of course, and we are glad to find you in one piece.” 

While he does feel relieved, Rook’s smile is a bit forced. If he has to be honest, right now he feels like many little pieces struggling to fit together. 

“Likewise,” he says, then excuses himself and walks out without a sense of direction. 

Joseph let them go. He just let them go? 

Mary May catches up to him when Rook has just passed the church. He hugs her briefly, then sees her expression. 

“What’s wrong?” 

She smiles at him and it looks sympathetic. That's not a good sign. 

“Joseph Seed said something strange to me before we left,” she starts, looking off into the distance. When her gaze is back on Rook, it’s sharper. “He said this is a sign of devotion.” 

Rook is pretty much mute while he looks at her, unsure of how he can explain this one. Hell, he can’t even explain it to himself. 

Joseph sure has his attention now.

  
  
  
  
  



	4. Surrender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _One gesture. That’s all it took for Joseph to turn Rook’s world a complete 180._

It keeps happening. 

Over the course of the next couple of days, from all parts of the county, his previously thought to be lost companions and friends connect with Rook one way or another. 

Tammy and Wheaty are the first ones to radio in from the Whitetail Mountains on their way to the Wolf’s Den. Rook is invited to come visit them, as long as he does not bring any more peggies with him. They’ve had their fill. 

Rook would laugh at the joke if he wasn’t already on the verge of hysteria. 

Nothing about this makes sense. 

Joseph Seed is a cruel man with a purpose to enslave people’s minds and lead them to wherever it is he thinks Eden’s Gate is. Why is he just letting them walk out of the compound? Rook is grateful but confused. This is so inconsistent with the Seeds as he has known them so far that he can’t help but think he is about to wake up from a bizarre dream any minute. 

But he doesn’t wake up. 

Instead, Jess comes knocking at his door at 2AM. 

“Rook!” 

She barely has to call out his name a couple of times before he shoots up in his bed and yanks the door open, staring at her in disbelief. She looks perfectly fine. Even her pupils aren’t dialated. 

“How?” Rook asks her too, because he is an idiot and a masochist, as they make their way downstairs. No one dares make fun of his pyjamas thankfully, not that there are many people remaining at the Eagle at this hour. 

  
Sharky comes to join them though, beer in hand. “Good to see ya, Jess.” 

“Yeah, you said so already on my way up,” Jess shoots him down quick, turning to Rook as she does. “I asked Joseph why he was letting me go. It made no sense, you know? He’s a cruel motherfucker and if I had my arrows, I would have shot one right between his eyes.” She catches Rook cringe at that and lifts her eyebrows. 

“No,” she urges. “Rook, tell me you’re not who he meant when he said ‘You are not the one I need here.’” 

Rook wishes he could, mute as a fish again. Jess curses out loud, spooking Peaches who has followed them downstairs, making her hiss. 

“Sorry, kitty,” Jess apologizes to Peaches and pets her on the head. Then she turns her attention back to Rook. “He said I wasn’t the one he was interested… Not the one he  _ needed. _ . What  _ the fuck _ , Rook?” 

Not having an answer, Rook just stays there, useless. Sharky pitches in helpfully. 

“Guess you haven’t heard about the radio calls, Jess. I think I have ‘em recorded somewhere, hang on,” and with that he goes out the door and into the night. Rook’s mouth is suddenly drier than the Sahara desert. 

Jess pins him with a look before he can make up any excuses. “Explain.” 

So Rook does. By the end of it, Jess is pacing the Eagle like an angry cat, irritating Peaches again. 

“He said that? He said you’re his “Chosen” one?” 

Rook nods, not wanting to repeat it. 

“Well how the fuck is that even possible? Isn’t he supposed to be celibate, I heard the peggies are.” 

“Why does everyone assume this is about sex?!” Rook bursts out before he can help himself, then feels guilty when Jess glares at him. He sags a little, his 6’3 height suddenly feeling less than Jess’... 5’6 he assumes. 

Jess’ hands are on her hips, uncharacteristically, when she quizzes him next. 

“What are you going to do?” 

Sharpy makes his return then and Rook takes the opportunity not to answer. He doesn’t really know what he’s going to do. 

  
  


~

  
  


Kim Rye calls him to tell him Nick has come home. She’s in tears, but she’s happy, and that’s all Rook needs to know. 

Then she goes into labour and Rook is called in to drive them to the doctor. He doesn’t remember Joseph is the one to thank for this happiness until after the panic is over and the baby is born. 

The Ryes are reunited and it’s because of Joseph fucking Seed that Rook goes to bed at 8AM a happy godfather. 

Joseph hasn’t called him since that memorable devotion call two days ago. 

  
  


~

  
  


Grace comes home to Fall’s End in the afternoon on the third day. She looks like she got into a fight with a peggy on her way out of the compound, and as Adelaide asks her about it, it turns out she really did. 

It isn’t long before she pulls Rook away from the others. 

“Is it true?” 

Rook is not sure what to say to that. Is what true? That Joseph Seed practically serenaded him over open radio? That the peggies now too believe that Rook is supposed to be the one beside Joseph despite also being the one to kill his brothers? That despite every wrong, appalling thing Joseph has done Rook still finds himself wanting to go to him sometimes? 

“Yes,” he says simply. 

Grace gives him a look that is equal amounts of pity and disgust. She has never looked at Rook like that before so he really feels it. 

“Don’t cross a line you can not come back from, Rook,” she advises him before she goes back to the others and Rook is left alone. 

Boomer makes his way over to him and whines at him, and Rook takes him for a walk around Fall’s End. It’s good timing, Rook needs to think. 

Sadly the only thing he can think about is why Joseph had to go and do something good for him now. It shouldn’t change anything. Joseph has done so much bad, he could never make it right. 

By the time evening rolls in, the jail has called that Tracy is back.

It has been three days since Rook last heard Joseph’s voice. 

  
  


~

  
  


Rook barely sleeps the following nights. His body is exhausted from all the emotions, but his mind is reeling. Down on a table at the Eagle the plans A and B remain unused, mocking him. 

He gives up on sleep around 6AM on the fifth morning and pulls his clothes on, going downstairs to grab the plans and burn them somewhere. Maybe he can cook some fish for Cheeseburger while he’s at it. 

The Eagle is wonderfully empty at this hour, save for Peaches lounging near the door. Boomer is right outside too, so Rook takes both of them to the burning.

When he finally sets fire to the papers, Rook can’t help but be reminded of that first night. The flames of the crashed helicopter. The Marshall, now dead; Staci Pratt, dead; the Sheriff and Hudson, still missing. Rook hopes they’re well but somehow feels so detached and removed from them that he can barely recall the feeling of what it was like to be one of them. 

One gesture. That’s all it took for Joseph to turn Rook’s world a complete 180. 

  
Was it supposed to be this easy? Rook feels disarmed. 

More questions come to him and he has the answers to none. 

Why did Joseph let him go the first night? Why was Rook allowed to just run into the woods to safety? Why wasn’t Jacob allowed to kill him? Why did Faith try so hard to pull him to their cause? And why did Rook have to reach the Atonement, whatever that was? 

How far back does this go? Why is Rook even still alive? 

He remembers Joseph’s hand on his wrist in the helicopter. 

Joseph’s arms lifted in surrender for the initial arrest. 

Joseph’s eyes on him in the chapel. 

_ God will not let you take me.  _

The fire dies out, Rook’s plans and the work it took to put them together now forgotten. Rook gets in his truck and drives toward Joseph’s compound. 

  
  


~

  
  


With the streets so empty at dusk, Rook reaches his destination almost too fast. For the first time he feels truly alone coming here. 

A peggy meets him at the gates, silently pointing Rook to a little house on the edge of the compound. Rook doesn’t have to ask who is there or why he is expected. Of course he is expected, this is what Joseph wanted, for Rook to go to him. Somehow it feels like Rook is the only one who didn’t expect this.

He barely has to knock on the door and it swings slowly open. Joseph somehow looks both sleepy and alert in the doorway, both careful and relaxed, both hesitant and pleased. Rook feels predictable, naked. Joseph reaches for him and Rook just lets himself be led into the room, barely hearing the door close behind him. 

Joseph takes them to the bed - too big for one person, too small for them both to lie comfortably in. He allows Rook to climb over him, looking up at him with readiness and calm that Rook has to hide his face in his neck, afraid to really face this moment between them. 

Joseph undresses him, then lets Rook remove what little clothing he still has on. He lets Rook lay on top of him and slip between his thighs. As Rook finds himself sliding two fingers in Joseph, he realizes that maybe this is about sex too after all. 

Later, when he’s thrusting inside Joseph, he knows it’s not just about sex. Somewhere deep inside he’s probably known it all along. But with Joseph clenching around his length, moaning softly about how good Rook feels inside of him, how they’re made for each other, Rook begins to actually believe it. 

By the end of it, as Joseph quietly urges Rook to come inside him, Rook can not think of a reason to deny Joseph anything. So with a shudder and a groan, he does. 

They finish together, Joseph arching into him, pulling him close. Rook doesn’t resist it. It’s the best sex of his life. 

  
  
  


~

  
  


Rook is woken up by the sounds of chaos and yelling outside. 

Joseph is not next to him. 

It doesn’t take him long to get dressed and step outside. He is then met with a sight he never expected to see again. 

The Sheriff and Hudson are back, a handful of deputies along with them. Rook hopes those deputies do not go through what he has. But judging by the stand-off they are currently engaged in with the peggies at the compound, they won’t be so lucky. 

Joseph is unsurprisingly in the midst of it all. Rook walks up to him without thinking, finding himself surrounded by peggies. The deputies’ guns are trained on him too now. 

It’s hard for the irony of the situation to be lost on Rook. 

“Rook, what the hell are you doing??” Joey Hudson asks, and not for the first time in recent weeks Rook wishes he had an answer. 

Joseph gives him a look over his shoulder that is all conviction and trust. 

Rook thinks back on the past weeks and months of his life in Hope County. How little devotion it took from Joseph to win this much of Rook’s. 

Rook lifts his gun. 

The sky cracks open in a burst of fire.


End file.
